Sectional florist bench



1,626,095 AP" 37' G. s. RAMSBURG SECTIONAL FLORI ST BENCH Fi y 11. 1926 .2 Sheets-Sheet 1 gwmmtcw April 26, 1927.

G. S. RAMSBURG SECTIONAL FLORIST BENCH Filed May 11, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 26, 1927.

EJETED STATES teac es GEORGE SUEL RAMSBURG, OF SOMERSWORTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

SEGTIONAL FLORIST BENCH.

Application filed May 11,

This invention relates to benches for greenhouses and particularly to benches made of concrete or other artificial stone.

The general object of this invention is to provide a bench or table of this character which is relatively simple in construction, which is formed of sections and which sections are so constructed that they may be made up during seasons when fiorists are notordinarily busy and afterwards assembled as the need requires.

A further object is to provide a bench of this kind wherein the sections are entirely portable and the sections may be easily and quickly arranged to form a complete bench or as readily removed.

Another object is to provide a bench of this character wherein all the parts are interlocked, the interlocking means being such as to cause the structure to be thoroughly rigid and firm and permitting the use of portable legs, thus eliminating much labor and skill in the aligning of the stationary posts.

Still another object is to provide a bench of this character which is adaptable to many uses wherever a temporary or a permanent heavy service bench is required such as in greenhouses, mills, factories, show rooms, for road side display, etc, the bench being further capable of being arranged either as a bench with sides or as a fiat table without sides.

Another object is to provide means for draining the earth sustained by the bench and causing all seepage to fall directly to the ground, th'us keeping all parts of the bench, and particularly the under side thereof, dry and clean, thereby eliminating any chance for the growth of fungus due to moisture.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accoi panying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a top plan View of a florists bench constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is Figure 1;

Fig.3 is a Figure 1;

' Fig. e is a Figure 2;

Fig. is a Figure 2;

a section on the line 22 of section on the line 3-3 of section on the line 4-4 of section ongtheline 5.5 of

1926. Serial No. 108,362.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of an end section;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the floor slabs;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a slab used at intermediate points and particularly adapted for the support of the end walls;

Fig. 9 isa top plan view of a modified form of section 27.

Referring to these drawings it will be seen that the bench includes in its construction six posts or legs, each designated 10, each having a base 11 and at its upper end each leg is provided with a longitudinally extending tongue 12 which extends entirely across the leg. Supported by these legs are the stringers or beams 13 which are preferably of reenforced concrete or like material. The rear end of each of these beams is longitudinally grooved as at 14 to receive the tongues 12 of the rear legs, and the forward ends of these beams are also grooved as at 15 to receive the tongues of the forward legs. These grooves 14 may extend into the stringers a depth equal to half the length of the tongue 12 but as illustrated are equal in length to the tongue 12. Intermediate legs or posts 10 may be used midway of the length of the stringers 13, these legs also having tongues extending upward into slots or kerfs cut in the stringers 13 as shown in Figure 2.

The end section 16 of the top of the bench is formed by a concrete slab having the end walls 17 and the front wall 18 pr ferably formed integral therewith, the end walls 17 having V-shaped grooves 19 on their inner edge faces. The under face of the slab 16 is transversely grooved as at 20, these groov es having a width equal to the width of the stringers and each groove having at its middie the downwardly extending dowel or tongue 21 adapted to be received in a mortise 22 formed in the upper face of' each beam 13 at its forward end. The rear edge face of the slab 17 between the recesses is cut away as at 23, as shown in section in Figure 2, so as to form a longitudinally ex tending opening between the slab 16 and the next adjacent bottom section for drainage purposes.

Disposed in successive order upon the beams 13 are a series of body sections or slabs 24, these slabs being duplicates, and each slab is formed upon its under face with a transversely extending recess or groove of a width equal to the width of the beams 13 so that these slabs may rest upon the beams 13 and. be interlocked therewith. Each slab at its extremity is formed with a Vshaped groove 26 upon its upper face. lVhen the slabs are all assembled upon the beams 13, these grooves 26 will register with each other and with the vertical V-shaped grooves 19.

The intermediate portion of the table consists of the slab 27 also formed, of course, of reenforced concrete and having the upwardly projecting end walls 28, these end walls being grooved on their forward and rear edges at 29. The slab 27 upon its under face is transversely recessed or grooved at 30 so as to engage over the beams 13; and adapted to be disposed in the grooves 26 and in the grooves 19 and 29 are the Walls 31, the lower edges of which are beveled at 32 so as to fit into the l-shaped grooves 26 and the forward and rear ends of which are V-s'haped as at 33, to fit within the grooves 19 and 29. These walls 31 are to be made of any desired length as, for instance, from 6 to 8 long and when in place, these walls 31 are locked against lateral movement by reason of the ends interfitting with the end walls 28 and 17 and the lower edges interlocking in the grooves 26. Any number of body slabs Q l may be disposed between the slabs 17 and 27 within the limits of the beams 13. Obviously, these beams may be made in different lengths to suit various requirements ,and thus from a plurality of units or sections having the same form but different lengths, tables and benches of different sizes may be readily constructed.

Preferably each of the slabs 24, and the slab 27. are formed so as to provide for drainage that is, each slab upon its opposite faces may have a portion cut away at 34 and formed to provide an overhanging lip 35, these lips being spaced from each other a suitable distance to permit proper drainage and inasmuch as the lip extends downward. and is spaced from the body of the slab on its under face by a channel 36, it follows that any drainage will drop directly down ward upon the floor and will not follow back; upon the under face of the slah',thus causing the under face of the slab to become dampv and thus permit the growth of fungus.

It will be seen that I have provided a simple reenforced concrete bench consisting of but five units, namely, a leg, a longitudinal stringer, a body section, an end or. front section and a mid section. The last named three units may be made of any desired length thus saving time and expense and permitting the bench to be easily and quickly arranged. All that is necessary to do is to align the posts and then simply lay the several units in place and the bench is ready for immediate use. By removing the legs, the bench may be lowered to accommodate taller growing plants in low houses or at the sides of greenhouses where the roof is relatively close to the ground.

lVhile I have illustrated a bench having its bottom formed of the sections 16, 24 and sections 27, a bench might be formed out of the sections 1.6 and the sections 27 somewhat modified as illustrated in Figure 9. In this figure the section 2? is shown as provided with the upwardly extending walls 28 at its ones but these walls instead of being formed on both edges with recesses 29, are formed on one edge with a recess 29 and at the opposite end with a V-shaped tongue 29". Thus, it will be obvious that the tongues 29 of one section 27 will fit into the recess 29 of the next adjacent section 27 and thus the bench may be made of only four units or sections namely, the posts, the stringers, any number of the sections 27 and the end sections 16.

It will. be seen that the middle posts 10 hold the stringers 13 against any longitudinal movement and that a rigid bench is formed from a number of readily assembled units. This bench may be closed on all four sides or margins that is, may have a wall around all four sides or may have a wall only on three sides. The sections may be at together without the aid of tools and without the aid of cement. The bench may be readily made at odd times by unskilled labor and stored for emergency and is thus readily available for a speedy change or use when desired.

The bench has but few parts and these may be made or assembled in a fraction of the time now occupied for doing such work. Furthermore, the bench may be quickly taken down and shifted, a feature not at present known in greenhouse benches. This is particularly important in large greenhouses where soil is handled by team or truck as this permits the bench to be quickly taken down to permit of entry. The portability of the structure will also allow a change of position of the benches.

It will be seen from Figure 1 that the bench may be extended to any desired length by placing another set of stringers or supporting beams 13 upon the pillars or posts 10 and continuing the bottom of the bench by laying more of the slabs 16, upon these stringers and placing the slabs 27 at intervals so as to receive the walls 31.

The stringers 13 may extend at either right angles to the wall of the greenhouse or parallel thereto and the sections 16; may constitute either the forward end of the bench, the rear end. of the bench, or the lateral wall of the bench. The various slabs may thus be combined to form either a long bench or a short bench and it will be understood that the section 16 is, to be used at, opposite ends of the bench if desired so that the bench will be entirely surrounded by the walls 18 and 31.

I claim 1. A greenhouse bench, formed of a series of sections of artificial stone and comprising posts having tongues at their upper ends, stringers havinggrooves at their opposite ends to receive said tongues, the stringers at their forward ends being formed with mortises, an end section adapted to be disposed upon said stringers, and recessed to receive the stringers, the floor of each recess being formed with a tongue to extend into the mortise of a stringer, the end section having a front wall and end walls, a section grooved upon its under face to engage over the stringers and having end walls, a pinrality of body sections each grooved upon its under face to receive said stringers, the upper face of each body section at its ends being transversely grooved, the end walls carried by the first and second named sections being vertically grooved, and wall members having tongues engaging in the grooves of the first and second named sections and in the grooves in the body sections.

2. A florists bench of the character described formed of reenforced concrete and consisting of a plurality of separate units or sections, the bench comprising portable posts, stringers adapted to rest upon the posts and having interlocking engagement therewith, an end section having a front wall and side walls adapted to have interlocking engagement with the stringers, a second section having end walls and formed to have interlocking engagement with the stringers, a plurality of body sections each interlocking with the stringers, and removable walls disposed between the end walls of the first and second named sections and having interlocking engagement therewith.

3. A florists bench of the character de scribed formed of reenforced concrete and consisting of a plurality of separate units or sections, the bench comprising portable post-s, stringers adapted to rest upon the posts and having interlocking engagement therewith,

an end section having a front wall and end walls adapted to have interlocking engagement with the stringers, a second section having end walls and formed to have interlocking engagement with the stringers, a plurality of body sections intermediate the first and second named sections each interlocking with the stringers, and removable walls disposed between the first and second named sections, all of said sections being formed upon their confronting edge faces to provide drainage openings.

4[ In a florists bench, conjoined bottom sections, each of said bottom sections being cut away on its edge face, the side face of the cut away portion being formed to pro vide a depending lip separated from the body of the slab by a longitudinally extending channel whereby to cause water to drop directly from said lip without running back upon the under face of the slab.

5. A florists bench formed of a series of concrete sections and comprising posts, stringers having detachable interlocking engagement with the posts, and transversely extending sections having interlocking engagement with the stringers and including a transverse member having a longitudinal wall and end walls, a member having end walls, and intermediate members, all of said members being abutted against each other and being cut away on their abutting faces to provide longitudinally extending drainage openings.

6. A florists bench having a bottom and side and end walls and formed of interlocking sections of concrete, stringers of concrete having interlocking engagement with the under faces of said sections, the ends of said stringers being longitudinally grooved,

the grooves opening upon the ends of the stringers, and posts having upwardly extending tongues engageable in the grooves in the stringers.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

GEORGE SUEL RAMSBURG. 

